Game 2 Preview: Avs look to take a 2-0 series lead over the Kings

DENVER, COLORADO - APRIL 19: Artturi Lehkonen #62 and Martin Necas #88 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrate after Lehkonen scored a goal in the second period. Photo by Ashley Potts/NHLI)

After grinding out a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday afternoon, the Colorado Avalanche look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Kings tonight in Game 2. Puck drop is expected at 8:22 p.m. MT on ESPN.

Colorado Avalanche

Game one was certainly much more low-scoring than some people might have initially anticipated, but the Avs wound up with the win, and that’s ultimately what matters in the playoffs. No one really cares how you win, just that you won. Despite Colorado pulling out the win, there are still plenty of places for the Avs to improve, such as on the powerplay, specifically, as the Avs went 0-4 in the previous contest. If the Avs can play as they did in that game and convert on the power play, they should be more than capable of burying the Kings tonight and taking a two-game lead to Los Angeles for Game 3.

No word on when Ross Colton is set to draw back into the lineup but all indications are the Avs are going with the same lineup which won them Game 1. That includes in net with Scott Wedgewood expected to get the start again.

Projected Lineup

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Parker Kelly – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Gabriel Landeskog – Nazem Kadri – Nicolas Roy
Joel Kiviranta – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Brent Burns – Josh Manson
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski

Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Los Angeles Kings

Going into this series, it was known that the Kings were going to try to keep the games low-scoring to try and give themselves a chance to be competitive, which is what they were able to do in game one. While this team has some offensive firepower with the likes of Panarin, Kopitar, Byfield, and Kempe in its lineup, the way they thrived in games throughout the year was by playing strong defensively and keeping games low-scoring. If the Avs can break through on the power play and run away in this game, as mentioned above, LA is going to have a difficult time hanging around.